lol, FIFA

[Lineker]

Bahrain’s Sheikh Salman Bin Ebrahim al-Khalifa received a major boost in his bid to become the next president of Fifa when he received an endorsement from the Confederation of African Football. Suketu Patel, the vice-president of Africa’s football governing body, which has 54 full members, said the Asian Football Confederation president was its preferred candidate for the poll in Zurich on 26 February.

[Adam]

Since then though South Sudan (hardly a major player I know) have endorsed Infantino and some have suggested others from Africa will do the same.

Sheikh Salman has to be the worst option of all of them, by a mile. This whole system really needs chucking out.

[Lineker]

The suspended Fifa president, Sepp Blatter, and the Uefa president, Michel Platini, will be invited to the 2018 World Cup in Russia, the Russian sports minister, Vitaly Mutko said.

Blatter and Platini, the two men at the top of the world’s most popular sport, were banned by the world governing body for eight years in December over a spate of corruption scandals on their watch that, among other things, raised questions about Russia’s right to host the tournament.

Mutko told Russia’s R-Sport news agency that Blatter and Platini were appealing against their bans and still permitted to attend football events.

“Formally, the suspension prohibits them from any position in football. But on the other hand, how is it that an outstanding player like Michel Platini can’t go to the football?” Mutko said. “We will invite them, I see no problems with the events we are hosting.”

The Russia president, Vladimir Putin, has called Blatter “a very respected person” who had done much for the development of the global game, fostered it as a form of cooperation between countries and was deserving of the Nobel Peace Prize.

Qatar may create special courts during the 2022 World Cup to deal quickly and “very gently” with alcohol-consuming fans who break the law in a conservative Muslim state where public drunkenness is prohibited.

Qatari officials have said that the 500,000 football fans expected to descend on their country during the World Cup will be allowed to consume alcohol in designated zones, but how to best balance the country’s cultural values with Fifa’s requirements for the tournament remains contentious.

“I know in South Africa there where specific courts established during the World Cup for this kind of thing, and that is something we were discussing with Fifa,” the head of the Gulf state’s 2022 committee Hassan Al Thawadi said at a sports conference in Doha.

During its 2010 World Cup, South Africa set up 56 special courts to accelerate cases involving foreign fans so they could be dealt with before either suspects or witnesses left the country.

In South Africa, most court proceedings ended with fines for those found guilty. The same might apply in Qatar, though drug offences often carry jail terms.

Although not dry like neighboring countries such as Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, alcohol is served only at elite hotels in the Gulf state. Public drunkenness is prohibited, as is bringing alcohol to Qatar from abroad.

“In relation to drunk fans it will be as it is anywhere else, anyone who is rowdy, anyone who breaches the law, will be very gently – depending on how they react – taken care of in a manner to make sure that people are not disrupting the public order,” said Thawadi. “Everyone will be able to have fun and be exposed to Qatari culture.”

Consumption of alcohol is likely to be largely ignored by Qatar’s predominantly young population, as it is swept away with the euphoria of hosting the competition, Thawadi said.

“We welcome everyone in the world. We’ve hosted many people, from many places and [drinking] was never an issue. This will be a fun World Cup. It will be one of the best cups out there.”

Fifa has said it will defend the commercial rights of its sponsors, including Anheuser-Busch InBev, which will sponsor the 2022 tournament. Brazil initially refused to sell alcohol during the matches of the 2014 World Cup, but eventually relented after pressure from Fifa.

Qatar is considering special World Cup courts to deal “very gently” with fans breaking rules on public consumption of alcohol, according to the chief executive of the 2022 organising committee.

Along with a string of other issues, Qatar’s laws prohibiting public drinking have been a source of constant questions for organisers since it won the right to host the tournament in December 2010.

“I know in South Africa there where specific courts established during the World Cup for this kind of thing, and that is something we were discussing with Fifa,” the Qatar 2022 organising committee chief executive Hassan al-Thawadi told Reuters. “In relation to drunk fans it will be as it is anywhere else, anyone who is rowdy, anyone who breaches the law, will be very gently – depending on how they react – taken care of in a manner to make sure that people are not disrupting the public order Everyone will be able to have fun and be exposed to Qatari culture.”

During the 2010 World Cup, South Africa set up 56 special courts to deal swiftly with cases related to the tournament. But the courts were criticised for their heavy-handed treatment of some local offenders and also for being used to swiftly prosecute those breaking laws introduced specifically at the behest of Fifa, including those related to ambush marketing.

Under Qatari law it is an offence to drink alcohol or be drunk in a public place, with sales restricted to high end hotels, though the sale of alcohol is likely to be permitted in specially created fanzones during the tournament. The contentious Qatar World Cup has faced questions over everything from how it was won to its timing, with searing summer temperatures of over 50C (122F) necessitating a move to winter, but al-Thawadi said its laws on alcohol would not be an issue.

“We welcome everyone in the world. We’ve hosted many people, from many places and that was never an issue. This will be a fun World Cup. It will be one of the best cups out there,” he added.

Meanwhile, sources close to the Uefa general secretary Gianni Infantino have insisted that no pact will be agreed with his rival for the Fifa presidency, Sheikh Salman Ebrahim al-Khalifa of Bahrain.

On Monday Vitaly Mutko, the Russian sports minister and Fifa executive committee member, reignited speculation that the pair could combine their efforts before the election on 26 February.

Given the Asian Football Confederation president Sheikh Salman only decided to stand when Michel Platini was forced to pull out, after initially promising to back the Frenchman, speculation that the pair have some kind of implicit deal has continued to swirl.

But Infantino has publicly insisted that he is committed to winning the race and has no deal with Salman, who secured the support of the Confederation of African Football late last week.

“When there is a formal support from Asia and Africa, then you are certainly the frontrunner. But I am not sure that all African federations would support him. Moreover, I do know that not all African federations will do that,” said Mutko.

“But it does not mean that he is an unsuitable candidate. He is a strong and a good candidate, but Europe has its own candidate and he is Gianni Infantino. Russia’s stance is very simple as we want them to come to terms eventually and lay out all their trump cards on the table.”

Infantino has already announced that Russia will back him. Six other European federations – Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Liechtenstein, Poland, and Slovakia – confirmed their support on Monday.

The outspoken Liberia FA President Musa Bility, who failed an integrity check to stand himself in the election, said that up to half of CAF’s 54 members would defy their confederation’s instruction to vote for Sheikh Salman.

Bility said the Liberian FA, one of 209 voters, would back Prince Ali of Jordan, who is also standing along with French former Fifa executive Jerome Champagne and South African businessman Tokyo Sexwale.

[METALMAN]

I've been thinking to myself: what is the most boring thread on the whole of EWB?

And then I realised. It's this one. Without a doubt. It's a thread about admin.

[Colly]

On 09/02/2016 at 15:49, metalman said:

I've been thinking to myself: what is the most boring thread on the whole of EWB?

And then I realised. It's this one. Without a doubt. It's a thread about admin.

Not any more!

 

 

[Lineker]

Quote

Sepp Blatter’s longstanding right-hand man Jérôme Valcke has been banned from football for 12 years for a series of offences including using private jets for sightseeing purposes and attempting to facilitate the sale of undervalued TV rights.

Less than two months after the Fifa president, Sepp Blatter, and his Uefa counterpart, Michel Platini, were banned for eight years, Valcke was handed the 12-year suspension for breaching seven counts of the Fifa ethics code. The former Fifa secretary general was found to have repeatedly chosen private flights over commercial ones “without any business rationale for doing so” and attempted to grant the TV and media rights for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to a third party “for a fee far below their actual value”.

The adjudicatory chamber of the ethics committee, headed by the German judge Hans-Joachim Eckert, also ruled that Valcke had helped a sports marketing firm gain an undue advantage from the selling of World Cup tickets. “In this respect, not only did Mr Valcke do nothing to stop these activities, he even encouraged the persons responsible to do so,” it said. “Furthermore, Mr Valcke repeatedly encouraged them to breach an agreement concluded between Fifa and the sports marketing firm.”

It was following a series of allegations against Valcke by Benny Alon, a ticketing executive, in September last year that the former TV executive was suspended. He was accused of trying to profit on a ticket deal that was never ultimately carried out. By that time, there was an internal Fifa investigation underway into his alleged misuse of private jets and expenses violations.

“By travelling at Fifa’s expense purely for sightseeing reasons as well as repeatedly choosing private flights for his trips over commercial flights without any business rationale for doing so, Mr Valcke, gained an advantage for himself and relatives,” said the ethics committee. “In doing so, Mr Valcke acted against Fifa’s best interests and caused considerable financial damage to Fifa, while his private and personal interests detracted him from his ability to properly perform his duties as the secretary general of Fifa.”

Valcke became indispensable to Blatter as his “fixer” during his eight years as secretary general, responsible for delivering challenging World Cups in South Africa and Brazil. The flamboyant Frenchman staged a remarkable return to Fifa in 2007, just months after being forced to quit having been accused of lying by a US judge during contract negotiations with Mastercard when he was marketing director. But he is highly unlikely to return a third time after becoming the latest senior executive to be banned by the organisation’s ethics committee. The ethics committee also found that Valcke had attempted to delete evidence.

“It was found that Mr Valcke deliberately tried to obstruct the ongoing proceedings against him by attempting to delete or deleting several files and folders relevant to the investigation, despite being aware of his duty to preserve all data and to collaborate in order to establish the facts of the case,” it said.

Valcke has consistently denied wrongdoing and believes the charges to be politically motivated. He can appeal to Fifa and later to the court of arbitration for sport. “With today’s decision, the Fifa ethics committee has shown that it is not a credible, independent or objective decision-making body,” Valcke’s lawyer Barry Berke said in a statement, criticising an “unjust and politically motivated decision”.

He added: “Mr Valcke is confident that when all the facts come out, it will be clear that he did absolutely nothing wrong in carrying out his duties for the good of Fifa and the sport.”

Fifa is set to elect a new president on 26 February, with Uefa’s general secretary, Gianni Infantino, and the Asian Football Confederation president Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim al-Khalifa the favourites. Meanwhile, US and Swiss criminal investigations are continuing.

[Lineker]

BBC Sport understands The FA have agreed to support Gianni Infantino for the Fifa presidency following a board meeting. A formal announcement is expected later on Wednesday.

[Colly]

Team Draw Baldy.

[DavidMarrio]

3 hours ago, Colly said:

Team Draw Baldy.

He'll bring more bantz to FIFA if the draws are anything to go by...

[Lineker]

Quote

The Football Association has officially backed Gianni Infantino’s campaign for the Fifa presidency following a board meeting, with Greg Dyke describing the Swiss as an impressive candidate and reiterating doubts about a rival bid from Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim al-Khalifa.

Infantino, the Uefa general secretary, stepped into the Fifa race last year when Michel Platini – the former president of the European governing body whom the FA had previously supported – was banned from football for eight years. Infantino will be one of five presidential candidates at the election on 26 February, but the successor to Sepp Blatter is expected to be a two-horse race between him and Sheikh Salman of Bahrain.

Infantino has proposed to expand the World Cup to 40 teams and hopes to encourage future bids for the tournament from regions rather than one or two nations. The 45-year-old will vie for the Fifa presidency alongside Salman, Prince Ali bin al-Hussein of Jordan, the French former Fifa executive Jérôme Champagne and the South African Tokyo Sexwale.

Dyke, the outgoing chairman who also proposed to the FA council a number of potential reforms to its method of governance on Wednesday, is concerned that Salman is not a suitable candidate because he is from Bahrain. The Asian Football Confederation president has been blighted by questions over his alleged involvement in a brutal crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators in 2011, something he denies, when 150 athletes were reportedly detained in the country and some of them allegedly tortured.

“I personally have a problem with Sheikh Salman,” Dyke said. “I don’t think anyone from Bahrain should be president of Fifa. Given what has happened in Bahrain in recent years, given their attitude to human rights, there is no doubt that footballers in Bahrain were put in prison and tortured because they didn’t agree with the regime.

“I’m quite happy to accept that the Sheikh wasn’t part of that, but he still comes from Bahrain and I just think that is completely the wrong message for world football. It’s [the Fifa presidency] a tough job for whoever wins because what you really need is a reform programme. A reform programme is much more important than who the president is.”

Infantino, who has the backing of Europe, also wants to increase the use of video technology, limit terms for officials to 12 years and significantly increase the amount of income Fifa receives on investing in development projects.

Fifa’s ethics committee has fined and warned the German former World Cup winner Franz Beckenbauer for not co-operating with investigations into the awarding of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to Russia and Qatar. Beckenbauer was fined 7,000 Swiss francs (around £4,900).

[Lineker]

Quote

Sepp Blatter, the dethroned Fifa president, is preparing to publish a personal account of his near 18 years at the head of football’s world governing body. The Swiss firm Werd and Weber Verlag is to release the book titled ’Sepp Blatter: Mission Football’, written by his official spokesman, Thomas Renggli.

The publicity blurb says Blatter “repeatedly had to put up with harsh reviews and prejudices” and details how the 79-year-old “learned to deal with the hostility” during his lengthy tenure as Fifa president, which came to a swift end last June.

A spokesperson for the publishers told Press Association Sport: “It’s his very own opinion on his time at Fifa.

“It’s a very personal book, not judicially edited or sanitised at all.”

The book is scheduled to be published in Blatter’s native Switzerland in April, not in February as detailed on the publisher’s website, and an English language version is due to be published in June. It will cost 39 Swiss francs (almost £28).

It is anticipated Blatter and Michel Platini, who was widely expected to succeed the Swiss as Fifa president, will this week learn the results of their appeals against their respective eight-year suspensions from all football-related activity.

Blatter and the banned Uefa chief Platini had their hearings with Fifa’s appeals committee in Zurich last week after being found guilty of corruption over a “£1.3m disloyal payment” made to the Frenchman.

Fifa on Friday is due to elect Blatter’s successor, with five men in contention to succeed him as president. Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa of Bahrain, the Asian Football Confederation president, and Uefa’s general secretary, Gianni Infantino are the favourites for the role.

The former Fifa vice-president Prince Ali of Jordan, the Frenchman Jérôme Champagne and the South African Tokyo Sexwale are also on the ballot, but are considered outsiders.

[Colly]

Well I know what I want for Christmas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Subbuteo as always. But no one ever gets me it.

[Lineker]

Quote

Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim al-Khalifa, the favourite to replace Sepp Blatter as the president of Fifa, has been accused of using football development money to fund an earlier election campaign amid calls in parliament for an urgent investigation into a new alleged “cash for votes” scandal.

The Asian Football Confederation president, whose campaign has been dogged by strenuously denied allegations by human rights groups relating to the 2011 pro democracy uprising in Bahrain, faces fresh claims that in 2009 he used Fifa financed sports development budgets to fund his unsuccessful campaign for a seat on the Fifa executive committee.

According to a statement made on Tuesday in the House of Commons by the Tory MP and Fifa reform campaigner Damian Collins, a leaked letter received by Bahrain’s Al Bilad newspaper claimed Salman had spent upwards of £1.6m on a bitterly contested campaign he lost by two votes to the later disgraced Qatari Mohamed bin Hammam. The MP called on the government to oppose any bids by the Football Association for Fifa tournaments if Salman becomes its president on Friday.

Collins further claimed the letter said some of the money had come from Fifa financed football development projects, in particular Goal 1, which was intended to help fund a new Bahrain FA headquarters, and Goal 3, aimed at providing facilities for developing youth and women’s football.

He also alleged that “after Fifa requested urgent information from the Bahrain FA regarding the misappropriation of funds Salman did not comment until early September 2009, at which point he denied those claims, however the Bahrain FA did not dispute the contents of the leaked documents”.

When the Guardian previously approached Sheikh Salman’s campaign team, who have consistently turned down requests to interview him during his three month campaign, over the Al Bilad allegations, his London law firm Schillings said his 2009 campaign was funded from his own pocket and the claims were entirely false. “The allegations regarding the funding of Sheikh Salman’s 2009 Fifa election campaign are demonstrably false and have always been categorically denied by Sheikh Salman. Whilst the Ministry for Sport and Youth Affairs, which has funded the BFA since its inception, did request clarification on the BFA’s expenditure during 2009, this was entirely unconnected to Sheikh Salman’s campaign, which was funded from his own pocket,” it said in a statement.

“The falsity of these allegations is demonstrated by the fact that no further action was taken. However, since Sheikh Salman announced his bid for the Fifa presidency there has been a campaign of misinformation against him.”

Collins’ statement, covered by parliamentary privilege, will increase the pressure on the Bahraini at a time when he is presenting himself as the man who can save Fifa from collapse.

The organisation was pitched into the worst crisis in its 111-year history in May when the US Department of Justice unsealed an indictment alleging corruption, money laundering and tax evasion on a grand scale and a host of Fifa executives were arrested in Zurich by Swiss police.

Another wave of arrests and an updated indictment that alleged kickbacks had been paid worth more than $200m followed in December, taking the total number of indicted defendants to 27.

Salman, a former supporter of Blatter and the Asian Football Confederation president since 2013, is one of two frontrunners to succeed the long-standing Fifa president who was banned in December for eight years over a “disloyal payment” to the Uefa president Michel Platini.

The Bahraini has pledged to reform Fifa and bring Fifa it up to “the highest moral and ethical standards” if he is elected president. His closest challenger is the Uefa general secretary, Gianni Infantino, who resolved to stand when Platini was also suspended and later banned, and believes his campaign . has gained momentum in recent weeks.

But critics argue the entire election is flawed and even proposed reforms, which will be debated by Fifa’s 207 voting members before the election, will fail to bring about the sea change in culture required.

At the time of the events alleged in the petition, Salman was the head of the Bahrain FA and seeking a seat on Fifa’s all powerful executive committee. The campaign was bitterly fought, with allegations on both sides of vote buying and intimidation.

In the petition filed by Collins, who is a co-founder of the NewFifaNow pressure group, there are also detailed allegations that three days before Salman’s election to the presidency of the AFC in May 2013 the Football Federation of Kyrgyz Republic requested support for 53 projects to the tune of millions of pounds from the Olympic Council of Asia which, it says, was headed by a “close associate” of Salman’s.

It says there appears to be “no legitimate reason” why the FFKR would request cash from the OCA, which is part of the International Olympic Committee and not Fifa.

It further “notes the FFKR approached the OCA again after the AFC election asking when they would receive payment for their projects, which give strong grounds to suspect that the FFKR voted for Sheikh Salman because they believed they would receive significant financial support from the OCA (including that OCA officials appear to have met officials from the FFKR during the AFC vote in 2013); and believes that this is a fresh ‘cash for votes’ scandal which needs urgent investigation.”

Salman’s spokesman told the Times last week that “there has been no suggestion, and no credible evidence whatsoever,” that Salman was involved in any alleged wrongdoing. He said Salman had won the 2013 election by a landslide and was “clearly the overwhelming choice of the AFC members”. A spokesman for the OCA told the newspaper: “The OCA denies these allegations, which are entirely without foundation.”

Lawyers acting for the rival presidential candidate Prince Ali bin al-Hussein moved to have Friday’s election postponed by the court of arbitration for sport after Fifa blocked his request for transparent voting booths. The Jordanian former Fifa executive committee member had voiced concerns his rivals were exerting undue pressure on the 209 voters to record proof that they had cast their vote a certain way.

Fifa responded by banning mobile phones from the voting booth but would not agree to a request from the Ali camp to install transparent voting booths which they offered to provide.

CAS said it would rule on the matter before Thursday morning, when Ali’s lawyers said they believed it would decide on whether to postpone the election pending a decision on the transparent booths.

The other candidates in the election are the French former Fifa executive Jérôme Champagne and the South African politician turned businessman Tokyo Sexwale.

As Fifa’s executive committee gathered in Zurich before Wednesday’s board meeting, Infantino reiterated his view it was “now or never” for reform of the organisation.

“I think the crisis that Fifa is undergoing at the moment is really unprecedented and if we don’t do something now about it to restore the image of Fifa and the reputation of Fifa – and to increase the development of football in the world – then I see no future for Fifa,” he told BBC Sport.

But Salman hit back by saying Infantino’s election pledge to significantly increase the flow of cash to member federations would bankrupt Fifa within three years as it faces a $560m deficit.

Fifa sits on cash reserves of $1.5bn but the freewheeling crisis of the past year has seen huge expenses incurred and many sponsorship slots left unfilled. Salman said Infantino’s plan to offer each of Fifa’s 209 federations at least $5m a year towards development programmes was unsustainable.

“I think in three years we [FIFA] would be bankrupt — that’s how it is. Every person can see this cannot happen. The numbers do not match at all,” he said.

“It’s not up to the elected president to make such a risky decision as well,” the Bahraini royal told Associated Press. “What kind of democracy and what kind of organization should be run by one man?”

[METALMAN]

1 hour ago, Lineker said:

Quote

Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim al-Khalifa

Wiz Khalifa to his friends.

[The Lusophone]

They're two different people metalman. So racist. :/

[Lineker]

Quote

Fifa has passed a number of long overdue governance reforms, while admitting its ongoing crisis had contributed to a $550m financial black hole.

Following various dire warnings from Fifa’s acting president, Issa Hayatou – himself once censured over his role in the ISL bribery affair – about the threat to the organisation if the reform package did not pass it was voted through by 89% of the 207 members.

“This congress will mark a watershed moment in the history of Fifa. We are opening a new chapter and are committed to embark on that path towards change. No one can deny we’ve had to face very tall challenges that shook the foundations of our organisation,” said Hayatou, addressing the Fifa extraordinary congress that will also elect a replacement for the disgraced Sepp Blatter.

“We will vote a series of reforms that are far reaching and progressive and help us build a strong Fifa.”

The US lawyers and public affairs consultants drafted in to deal with the crisis had warned that Fifa’s victim status in the eyes of US and Swiss prosecutors could be at risk if they voted down the governance reforms.

The reform process has been criticised by those who believe that it afforded too much influence to the confederations that had contributed to Fifa’s downfall and lacked independent oversight.

But Hayatou insisted the changes–including the introduction of term limits, transparency on pay, measures to improve diversity and the separation of political and commercial matters – would provide Fifa with “a solid foundation that will allow it to bloom”.

“Today we vote for reforms that will allow us to build a stronger Fifa so football can prosper in the long run and so the events of the last months will never happen again,” he added.

“It will win back the respect of everybody throughout the world. It will re-establish trust in our organisation and deter those who might behave in a reprehensible manner.”

Only Gonzalo Boye of Palestine spoke up from the floor against the proposed changes. “This reform doesn’t represent a change or step forward. It seriously threatens the future of Fifa. If transparency is the objective of this reform, it moves in exactly the opposite direction,” he said.

“There will be no balance and no contra-balance. It will increase the power of the secretary general and decrease the power of the president, putting all the power in the hands of the Council.”

The new expanded Fifa council will replace the discredited executive committee and set a strategic direction for the organisation, which will be implemented by the secretary general and the administration.

International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach urged Fifa to pass the reforms and referred to its own Salt Lake City scandal.

“We know from our own bitter experience that this is not an easy process. We know how difficult it is to rebuild credibility. But today we see how vital these reforms have been,” he said. “You can’t compare the standards and good governance of yesterday with the standards of today.”

Amid a welter of slick Powerpoint slides, the reform package was passed as the acting secretary general, Markus Kattner, revealed the extent to which the corruption crisis had hit Fifa’s bottom line.

[METALMAN]

why do I keep going back to this thread when there's a new post, it's always going to be the most dull stuff ever :/

[Lineker]

Glutton for punishment.

[METALMAN]

I know a lot about gluttony, being EWB's go-to guy for restaurant recommendations.

[Lineker]

Someone reset @metalman he's stuck on loop again.